1914 – The first Federal League game was played in Baltimore and the Terrapins defeated Buffalo 3-2 behind Jack Quinn. A crowd estimated at 27,000 stood 15 rows deep in the outfield to witness the return of big league baseball to Baltimore.
1926 – Walter Johnson takes on A’s knuckleballer Eddie Rommel in baseball’s greatest Opening-Day pitchers’ duel, a 15-inning battle won by the Senators 1-0. Johnson gives up six walks and fans 12.
1946 – Eddie Klepp, a white pitcher signed by the defending Negro League champion Cleveland Buckeyes, is barred from the field in Birmingham, Alabama.
1953 – In Cincinnati, more than 30,000 see the Milwaukee Braves win their first game 2-0 behind Max Surkont.
1954 – Hank Aaron made his major league debut in left field for the Milwaukee Braves and went 0-for-5 in a 9-8 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Cincinnati’s Jim Greengrass hit four doubles in his first game of the 1954 season.
1954 – The A.L.’s new Baltimore Orioles open in Detroit and lose 3-0.
1962 – Just 12,447 Mets fans welcome the return of N.L. baseball to New York. Sherman Jones drops a 4-3 decision to the Pirates at the Polo Grounds.
1962 – Stan Musial scores his 1,869th run to set a new N.L. record. The Cardinals beat the Cubs 8-5 in 15 innings.
1963 – After eleven hitless at bats, Cincinnati second baseman Pete Rose records his first major league hit, a triple off Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend. Friend is called for four balks in the game.
1970 – Oakland uses gold-colored bases during the club’s home opener. The Rules Committee subsequently bans this innovation.
1972 – The end of the baseball strike is announced, with an abbreviated schedule to start two days later.
1978 – The Yankees defeat the White Sox 4-2 in their home opener on Reggie Candy Bar Day. Jackson slugs a three-run home run in the first inning, and the field is showered with candy bars, which were given out free to the fans at the game.
1984 – Pete Rose lashes a double off Jerry Koosman in a 5-1 Expos victory over the Phillies to join Ty Cobb as the only player to reach 4,000 career hits.
1987 – San Diego sets a major league record when its first three batters of the game (Marvell Wynne, Tony Gwynn, and John Kruk) all homer off Roger Mason, but the Giants come back to win 13-6.
1988 – Oakland’s Rick Honeycutt becomes the second pitcher in as many days to tie the A.L.’s 28-year-old balk record by committing four balks in four innings while saving a 12-7 win over Seattle. A major league record 924 balks will be called this season after umpires are instructed to interpret the complete stop rule more strictly.
1993 – Lee Smith became the all-time saves leader as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-7. Smith got his 358th save, passing Jeff Reardon of the Cincinnati Reds.
1998 – Ken Griffey, Jr. hits his 300th career home run to become the second youngest player to reach the milestone. Griffey’s 300th, a two-run shot to right off Jose Mesa in the seventh, is his second homer of the game and sixth of the season. At 28 years, 143 days old, Griffey is second only to Jimmie Foxx, who hit his 300th at 27 years, 328 days. Foxx hit 534 homers during his Hall of Fame career.
2004 – San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hits his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on the major league career list.
2023 – The Rays tie the modern major league record shared by the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers by winning their 13th straight game since the start of the season, 9 – 3, over the Red Sox. They actually trail for a couple of innings for one of the rare times this season, before scoring seven runs in the bottom of the 5th to run away with the win.
